Chapter 55
Chapter 55:
“Shut up,” Kieran snapped. “I’m busy. I’m fixing this. I’ll wire you the money when I have Jocelyn back p>
He hung up and slammed the phone onto the table.
In the adjacent private booth, separated only by a decorative lattice screen and a velvet curtain, Aspen Schneider sat perfectly still. She held her breath.
She had heard everything. The powder. The plan. The desperation.
A cold smile curved her lips. Kieran wasn’t trying to destroy Jocelyn; he was trying to reclaim her. He was still obsessed.
Aspen couldn’t allow that.
𝗟а𝗍𝘦st c𝗁𝖺pte𝗋s оn
She waited until she heard the heavy oak door of Kieran’s booth open and close — he was going to the restroom to wash the sweat from his face.
Aspen moved. She slipped out of her booth and intercepted a waiter carrying a silver decanter.
“Excuse me,” she said, her voice dripping with the sweetness that fooled everyone but Jocelyn. She pressed a roll of hundred-dollar bills into the waiter’s palm. “The gentleman in the Orion Room… he’s superstitious. He hates having the wine glass on the left. Could you just switch them? Before his guest arrives p>
The waiter glanced at the cash, then at the empty corridor. “Just switch the glasses p>
“Yes. It’s a feng shui thing p>
The waiter nodded and slipped into the room. Aspen watched from the shadows of a potted palm, her heart hammering a frantic rhythm against her ribs. She saw the waiter swap the positions of the two glasses. The drugged wine was now on the right.
Moments later, the elevator chimed.
Jocelyn walked down the corridor wearing a sharp charcoal-grey business suit that looked like armor. Her hair was pulled back in a severe bun. She didn’t look like a victim. She looked like a CEO.
Jocelyn pushed open the door to the Orion Room. Kieran was back in his seat, dabbing his forehead with a napkin.
“You’re late,” Kieran said, trying to sound authoritative, but his voice cracked.
“I’m busy,” Jocelyn replied. She didn’t sit. She stood by the door, hand on the brass handle. “You said you had the final settlement documents severing your financial ties to the Wolfe Hotel Group’s renovation loan. Sign them, and I leave p>
“Sit down, Jocelyn. Please.” Kieran gestured to the chair opposite him. “Let’s just have a drink. For old times’ sake. To celebrate… closure p>
Jocelyn’s eyes flicked to the wine glasses. “I don’t drink with people who sue me p>
“It’s a peace offering.” Kieran pushed the glass on the left — the safe one — toward her. “Just one sip. Then I sign p>
Jocelyn stepped forward but didn’t touch the chair. “I’m not drinking. I’m on a health kick. We’re… thinking about a family p>
She chose the words carefully — a lie designed to be the most repulsive, final barrier she could erect. The idea of a family with Gaston was so contrary to their arrangement, so absurd, that it was the perfect poison to serve Kieran.
The effect was instantaneous. The color drained from Kieran’s face.
“A family?” he choked out. “With him? That… that gay pretender p>
“Sign the papers, Kieran p>